EDITORS’ PICK: The Coup, Sorry to Bother You: The Soundtrack
Boots Riley’s feature-directing debut accompanied its surrealist depiction of life in Oakland during capitalist wartime with a clamorous, giddy score by hometown heroes Tune-Yards; the movie’s official soundtrack, which showcases his long-running hip-hop collective The Coup alongside other boldfaced names, is similarly vibrant. Star Lakeith Stanfield guests on the glam-rock-tinged opening stomper “OYAHYTT” (an acronym for its chanted “Oh Yeah, Alright, Hell Yeah, That’s Tight” refrain, which is probably seconds away from being repurposed for arena pump-ups). Riley’s ominous verses on “Hey Saturday Night” get a manic accompaniment from Tune-Yards, who turn a high-energy beat, scuzz-fuzz guitar and leader Merrill Garbus’ julienned vocals into the bones for an unnerving party banger; “Anitra’s Basement,” another Tune-Yards collaboration, is a groove-heavy showcase for Garbus and roots singer Jolie Holland’s choir-leader skills. Janelle Monáe lets her funk flag fly on her two credited tracks, with her swaggering falsetto adding heat to the already-sweat-soaked “Whatthegirlmuthafuckinwannadoo” and her future-derived wisdom shooting “Over and Out/Sticky Sunrise” into space. “Monsoon,” featuring Killer Mike, has malfunctioning-mainframe synths at its edges that add a walls-closing-in feeling; “Crawl Out the Water” surrounds E-40 with cowbells and buzzy old-school keyboards. A future-funk triumph that’s pumped full of the confidence that propelled Sorry‘s most jaw-dropping moments, even as its lyrics cast a gimlet-eyed view toward the coming days. Maura JohnstonRead Our Review: Sorry to Bother You: Welcome to the WTF Satire of the SummerListen: Amazon Music Unlimited | Apple Music | Spotify | Tidal

Bob Dylan, Live 1962-1966 – Rare Performances From the Copyright Collections
This collection may only exist because of a weird quirk in European copyright law that stipulates that any recording not released after 50 years must enter the public domain, but it still means we get to discard our old bootlegs of key 1960s live Dylan moments for pristine recordings. Highlights include the first known live version of “Blowin’ In The Wind” taped at Gerde’s Folk City in 1962, a gorgeous “Boots of Spanish Leather” from his 1963 gig at New York’s Town Hall and a ferocious “Ballad of a Thin Man,” backed by the Hawks, from Scotland in 1966. Andy GreeneListen: Amazon Music Unlimited | Apple Music | Spotify | Tidal

Kenny Chesney, Songs For the Saints“After several albums of middle-aged soul-searching, the 50 year-old superstar hits his stride on Songs for the Saints, a relatively somber, loosely-conceived concept album based on the 2017 hurricane-induced devastation of the Virgin Islands, where Chesney lives part-time,” writes Jonathan Bernstein. “It turns out that Chesney’s stadium-sized, feel-good beach-country is perfectly suited to tackle the natural-disaster-as-apocalypse allegory traced throughout this song cycle, which maps a cycle of grief and despair transformed into healing and resilience.”Listen: Amazon Music Unlimited | Apple Music | Spotify | Tidal

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Underworld and Iggy Pop, Teatime Dub Encounters
In classic Iggy Pop style, this Underworld collaboration sports one song about how the perennially topless proto-punk wants his lost shirt back. But since he’s got the long-running dance duo supporting him, “Get Your Shirt” is more of an uplifting, synth-driven meditation with Pop ruminating than an aggressive screamathon. Pop and Underworld decided to work together when the latter’s Rick Smith produced the soundtrack to last year’s T2 Trainspotting (it features reworks of Pop’s “Lust For Life” and Underworld’s “Born Slippy,” both of which played large roles in the 1996 original). Surprise, surprise: It works. Pop sounds downright stately on this EP’s four tracks, which also focus lyrically on friendship (“I’ll See Big”), taking drugs and hitting on stewardesses (“Bells & Circles”) and feeling trapped (“Trapped”) – the latter, a tough, Suicide-like electro rocker with cinematic overtones, is the best track of the four. Kory GrowListen: Amazon Music Unlimited | Apple Music | Spotify | Tidal

G Herbo and Southside, Swervo
Since emerging from Chicago at the tail end of its vaunted drill bubble, G Herbo (formerly known as Lil Herb) has carved out a steady diet of brittle, uncompromising street rap tapes. Swervo pairs him with Southside from Atlanta collective 808 Mafia; the two wrangle some high-profile guests like 21 Savage, who drops a typical dead-eyed, blank-voiced verse on “How I Grew Up,” and scene leader Chief Keef, who delivers a watery, slightly off-rhythm cameo on “Catch Up.” Highlights include the title track and its odd dripping keyboard notes, and “FoReal,” where he raps the hashtag lines, “Bitch I’m sauced up, taco/Bossed up, yeah, El Chapo” over a propulsive 8-bit beat. The most commercially viable track finds the pop-rap star of the moment, Juice WRLD, warbling over the toy piano rhythm of “Honestly.” Unlike some of his contemporaries, G Herbo still raps as if his life depended on it, and while some of the tracks here harden into mixtape boilerplate, the intensity of his voice carries him through. Mosi ReevesListen: Amazon Music Unlimited | Apple Music | Spotify | Tidal

Ross From Friends, Family Portrait“British producer Ross From Friends took the hype machine by storm last year with his brand of “lo-fi house” – a waterlogged take on dance music that’s chill, wistful, strange, insular and fun,” writes Christopher R. Weingarten. “However, beyond a few hypnogogic parts – most notably a lo-fi-to-hi-fi fakeout in the first 30 seconds – his debut album sounds less like something befitting an imagined cassette or a warped VHS, and more like its actual, purchasable-in-2018 state: a 2xLP on Flying Lotus’ forward-thinking Brainfeeder label.”Listen: Amazon Music Unlimited | Apple Music | Spotify | Tidal

Halestorm, Vicious
Lzzy Hale cements her status as one of hard rock’s most vital voices on this muscular, adventurous and especially relevant rock record, which dispels the notion that the genre is on life support. After traipsing through the keys-heavy wilderness with Jay Joyce (Eric Church) on 2015’s Into the Wild Life, the Nashville-by-way-of-Philly four-piece indulges their heavier impulses with producer Nick Raskulinecz. Opening track “Black Vultures” announces an album as vicious as its title, with Hale screaming “black vultures circling the sky” over brother Arejay Hale’s pounding drums and guitarist Joe Hottinger’s power chords. “Uncomfortable” has rapid-fire verses that highlight Hale’s delivery, while “White Dress” finds her giving the finger to social conventions. But the slinky, steamy “Do Not Disturb” proves Hale is a woman in charge: She proudly recounts a real-life anonymous tryst in language that’ll make the most sinful fan blush. Joseph HudakListen: Amazon Music Unlimited | Apple Music | Spotify | Tidal

Phantastic Ferniture, Phantastic Ferniture
Never mind the melancholy vibes; the real star of this Sydney trio’s jangly alt-rock is frontwoman Julia Jacklin’s otherworldly quasi-yodel. The singer-songwriter exhales beautifully as she and her bandmates conjure sounds that recall echo-assisted bands on 4AD and IRS, as well as masters of the morose Mazzy Star. The single “Gap Year,” with its sweeping production, is designed to stick with you as Jacklin sings about a surviving a bad relationship – “And we love you, even if you don’t need me to, I can do it all by myself” – and the vocal hooks on “Fuckin ‘n’ Rollin” and “Dark Corner Dance Floor,” as well as the bluesy guitar licks on “Take It Off” and “I Need It,” make this album a compelling debut that’s worth repeat listens. Kory GrowListen: Amazon Music Unlimited | Apple Music | Spotify | Tidal

Thin Lips, Chosen Family“What’s So Bad About Being Lonely.” “Sex Is Complicated.” “What If I Saw You On the Street.” The titles on this Philly pop-punk band’s second LP suggest people piloting coming-of-age minutiae while trying to come unglued. The guitar-drum tumult is as churning and tangled as the epiphanies, which singer-guitarist Chrissy Tashjian delivers in a sharp, resiliently heroic near-whine. It makes the buoyant forward motion of nearly every tune here seem uniquely earned; “For Those Who Miss You All the Time” is an elegy for a diseased younger sibling that bounces along like a neon-tinged Paramore tune, while “I Know I’m An Asshole” pumps along with New Wave-y zeal, evoking a secret lost Scandal banger. Not every young band can aspire to such warrior glory. Jon DolanListen: Amazon Music Unlimited | Apple Music | Bandcamp | Spotify | Tidal